Wow it is hard to believe we have reached episode twenty and with only five to go the countdown to the end of Sword Art Online begins, but I have a feeling we will end up seeing a second season of this series because even though it can be quite dumb it really is popular…anyway what are you thinking Overcooled? Are you ready to see the ending?

I’m prepared for SAO to close its final chapter and just end with this Alfheim Online arc. It already feels like it’s being dragged out and half of the time I don’t even remember the show is out until Fosh has already sent me his entire text for the post. So, er, yes…I should apologize for being late again. It’s very hard to care about other things in my life such as eating or blogging when Persona 4 Golden is in my life…

Breaking the Game

Foshizzel // Last week things left off with Kirito and Leafa trying to stop a virtual war from breaking out, but of course Kirito managed to arrive on the scene like a bullet! I swear it looked like he crashed into the ground head first just to create a dramatic entrance to impress everyone! Whoa dude what are you even doing? After that crazy scene our hero wasted no time challenging and successfully defeating Eugene, the leader of the salamanders aka “the strongest player in ALfhiem Online.” However, during that big fight Kirito stole Leafa’s sword and used his giant two hander to win…I know…what? HOW? I seriously had to face-palm during that because I thought he couldn’t dual wield weapons anymore yet he was magically able to do it? I suppose you could just say “well Fosh this is a shounen themed series and it shows that Kirito as a bad ass player.” Personally I don’t think of him is a bad ass other than being straight up “lucky” all the time, I mean how long has he even played ALfiem online? And he defeated a veteran player that fast…YEAH whatever bro! At least the fight was entertaining to watch.

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From Beater to Cheater

“We could help…but we don’t want any wardrobe malfunctions now, do we?”

Overcooled //It’s bad enough that Kirito is able to dual wield in Alfheim Online, but that’s not all that he seems to be capable of. He’s only played for a few days, yet he’s stronger than the strongest player in the game. I know his stats and dual-wielding skills transferred from SAO, but it just doesn’t seem fair. Kirito’s ridiculous power makes it seem like everyone in this world is just a shitty fighter and can’t defend themselves. Despite having a group of other players and Leafa – who is supposedly a talented fighter – Kirito is nominated as the only one who can save them. It looks really bad to see a bunch of women stand there uselessly and twiddle their thumbs as their knight in shining armour saves them. It’s especially insulting since Kirito is a newbie and should at least suck at flying or magic or one of the new Alfheim Online exclusives. But no, he flits in and out of combat like a hummingbird on speed and can turn himself into a towering beast by muttering a few words. How did he even get all that money? It makes him badass, but it also makes literally every other character appear to be useless. All they do is wait for him to save them and then fawn over him afterwards. Alicia and Sakuya probably just wanted his skills (thank God) but it’s still very tiring to see him covered in bitches head-to-toe all the goddamned time. Yui chastises him for cheating, but it’s not like he can help it that everyone else sucks and he attracts girls with every breath he takes. I guess by default, he’s just a cheater in every single way…u_u

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New Girls all over Kirito

Foshizzel // We can add two more random girls to Kirito’s harem this week with Sakuya and Alicia who immediately put the moves on him…yep…I guess they are just impressed by his skills or by his in game riches? Either way those moments were pretty funny because the look on Leafa’s face was priceless and hilarious along with Yui who was quick to remind Kirito that he already belongs to someone else, but I kind of do feel bad for Leafa with the whole not knowing that her new partner she likes is really her cousin…that will not end well for her. Now for Asuna who surprised me with her escape, wait never mind I wasn’t that impressed because I don’t think she will actually get very far before creepy dude before he discovers that she ran away. Last I checked he was the freaking GM of ALfhiem Online and he probably has several ways to track people in the game, but I think she falls from the tree and then she lands in some water as we see in the opening every week? All I have to say is Kirito HURRY up and stop doing all these dumb side missions.

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Cait-Sylph Alliance

Overcooled // The state of affairs between the various classes interests me, and it’s a shame we don’t get to see more of it. The Cait-Siths and Sylphs form an alliance, and with some funding from Kirito, plan to tackle the World Tree. It must be a very amicable partnership if they don’t mind that only one of them will be granted the special wings. Perhaps Kirito will enlist the help of every race (except the Salamanders) and make his ascent with a huge army on his side. I hope to see more sides teaming up and forming rivalries to complicate things, although I’m not sure how much of that can happen when they have a whole tree to climb. Anyways, the Salamanders are set up to be the “bad guys” here since they antagonize every other race without discrimination. At least, so far. It worries me that a lot of other people might get the same idea as Sigurd and try reincarnating as a Salamander. If you can switch from the losing team to the winning team..wouldn’t you? Power-hungry people like Sigurd betray in a heartbeat, and will go with anyone who looks like they’re powerful. Once again, SAO isn’t so good at doing those “subtle” villains, so Sigurd is just a total megalomaniac who sits in thrones, sips wine, and has lady Sylphs drape themselves over him. And to think, real girls are behind those avatars doing this at their own will. Ugh, he’s such a creep. The Salamanders can keep him once the patch goes up. If there’s downtime for maintenance, maybe there will be some real life shenanigans again too.

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Final Thoughts

There’s really not a lot to talk about (or that I particularly want to talk about) this week. Kirito is vastly overpowered compared to everyone else, so he solos things like a boss as crowds of women cheer and throw themselves at his feet. This is nothing new. Kirito has always been like this. It’s still a bit irritating to see just how much of his SAO prowess has carried over into this new game he should be struggling with at least a little bit. It’s because of his strength that we get these incredible fights, though. I loved the action this week! It always looks so frenzied and intense – especially when the dual-wielding kicks in. I just wish some other players would be just as strong, you know? I guess Asuna is free now, so maybe she’ll be super strong too. Can someone other than Kirito contribute more to battles? Please and thank you!

Well finally we get to see some kick ass fighting which pushed for a fantastic looking episode for animation, but I can’t say the same thing about the HOW because it felt really half assed to have Kirito suddenly show off his duel wield skills to defeat “the strongest player in ALfhiem Online” when he was only playing the game for a few days? Besides that over the top fight I liked the small bits of comedy thrown in with Leafa getting all jealous over Sakuya and Alicia putting the moves on him. Other than that I didn’t really care about the random villain that lost his position in a video game, but whatever I am sure it is relative to the plot right? At this point I just want to see Kirito fight through the world tree and save Asuna and defeat the main creepy boss character.

51 Responses to “Sword Art Online – 20”

Five episodes left. It’s amazing how long a story can be stretched given that Kirito came into the game with a deadline of six days. I’m wondering how much time is left.

Honestly, the whole war prevention went so fast that it’s almost anticlimactic. I wish it could have been a little longer. Kirito probably did crash land but used the dust cloud to save his heroic image. Kirito’s personality gets darker every time he gets in a fight since coming to ALfheim Online. He’s fighting more like an animal now rather than a swordsman. I want some insight on that.

But let’s not forget still has his stats from Sword Art Online so it shouldn’t be surprising that he owned a veteran player like Eugene but the dual sword wielding ability is still a mystery since he supposedly lost it or maybe it was a glitch.

A cheater in games and relationships. It’s because he’s badass that he attracts the ladies no matter where he goes. Yui chastising him for cheating was unnecessary because he had to disappoint Alicia and Sakuya or Asuna would kick his ass if she ever saw them together.

Hmmm not sure if he is getting darker or more cocky with each passing “battle” I mean he is the MAIN lead and I get that, but I feel he is way to overpowered! I would like to see him get owned eventually; however the fans might hate that idea.

Right he does have his stats from SAO which is helping him and yet that probably makes me hate him even more >.<

Ahahaha yep! He is awesome and the girls love awesome guys I think or they just know Kirito will win anyway? Alicia and Sakuya were fun to bad they wont be around anymore I think…LOL yes Asuna would get very mad if she saw that xD

I’m just going along for the ride on SAO at this point. It can do whatever it wants, and as long as it ends up with Kirito saving Asuna and kicking the stuffing out of Slimegou (he could do it in real life, too, and I’d be fine with it), I’ll be happy with the show.

Just like I liked Akatsuki in Hagure Yuusha no Sexual Harassment, because he was so overpowered he didn’t actually know what his limits are, I think the same applies to Kirito here in ALO. Sometimes I just like seeing the hero curbstomp the baddies. The ‘plucky hero defies all odds to eke out a victory’ tends to get a bit overplayed, although I love it in Girls und Panzer.

@Highway: Yep I feel the same way right now even though this week Kirito made me face palm at the simple fight he had with the red leader…wow…really…anyway! Yeah save Asuna and kick Slimegou around for a few hours is perfectly fine to me.

Ahahah yeah Kirito is cool but lately he is WAY TOO COOL for his own good…I want someone to kick him around, but NOPE were are close to the end so that will not happen xD

i miss kayaba akihito…he kicked kirito’s ass beautifully
byt the way… i like leafa better than suguha(irl version of leafa)…
and
by the way… give kirito some credit de dual sword he had is in the space all the dual weilding there was kirito’s solo no game system to help
and
GO ASUNA!RUN TO HILL’S* the nightwish-fan in my blood runs deep*

K so since No one else has mentioned it yet I think I might as well. Kirito lost the skill Duel Wield because it was no longer required. Anyone can duel wield if they want to it is just no seen as convenient there. That makes him unique to fight against for the general.

Course having his SAO stats made things even easier for him. Also I really think y’all aren’t giving him enough credit. After being trapped in SAO he will most definitely have epic skills in virtual reality games. Not to mention he was a hardcore gamer even before that so it is not that unexpected that he would acclimate quickly. The money might have been from SAO for all we know.

As for why everyone else didn’t intervene that would obviously result in an all out fight that the Salamanders would win with their numbers. Since Kirito came out of no where and surprised them pretending to be an ambassador they probably felt it would be wise to let him do his thing. Though I do find it odd they did not object to the fight.

All in all yall should read the light novel I feel it is better since details like the duel wielding are usually left out in animes. Then again I usually do not criticize animes on details because I usually just accept things as is unless they really annoy me but that’s just me.

So wait? If all the players have the ability to use two swords at once? Why did the others stare in shock when Kirito started to use two weapons? Let alone one 2hander and one regular sword? I just don’t get it…or are they just used to sword/shield combo?

Hmmmm I see…so he has all his money from SAO? Interesting! I wish I could do that in my games LOLOL

Yeah honor and all that jazz I guess?

I know I should read the novel; however right now I kind of enjoy not knowing what happens next because I wouldn’t know what to actually write about or I will be temped to spoil or reveal certain things…that said I plan on reading them afterwards!

YEAAAHH why didn’t they freaking mention that fact? I have to agree I hate that part about the anime…

Even in real life, seeing someone wield two swords is rare. Dual wielding is pretty difficult. I don’t do kendo but in the novels, Leafa said that some kendo competitions allows participants to use two bamboo swords(one short and one long) but it’s still not as good as just using one.
It’s not that players don’t want to dual wield in ALO but it’s hard to fight with two swords as opposed to a sword/shield combo or something.
Kirito only became proficient in it because he has a tutor called “system assist” when he executes Sword Skills back in SAO.
Most probably the shock is a combination of someone dual wielding and their General getting clobbered.

he dosen’t have it in AlO…there’s no game system for dual weilding, it’s not a skill you can learn! that was all his power and that’s why people where shocked…besides him kicking Eugene’s butt, anyway, they didin’t know it was possible to use dual weilding…

Yeah well in regards to Duel Wielding…anyone can do it. The reason people do not is because they do not see it as practical in ALO from all the training that would have to be done to master it not because the skill is required. They just did not feel like mentioning that in the anime.

In regards to him beating Eugene…well is it that unexpected? I mean he was in SAO for 2 years straight, if you do not gain some epic virtual reality video game prowess on the front lines of that then you must have lost your memories. Not to mention that he was a hardcore gamer even before then, so his adapting to ALO so quickly is not that surprising. His stats from SAO do not hurt either.

The faction leaders did not do anything during the battle probably because that would mean an all out fight that they would lose because of numbers so it was probably the best to put their hopes in Kirito, who Leafa supported, and be ready to jet if things went South. I do find it odd why they did not object to the fight in the first place but they might have been stunned by the strange turn of events. I am really not entirely sure on that but I just take it as is. My recommendation is to read the LN if you do not understand something because it could have been explained there.

I’ll just add here that what Kirito lost is just the ability to use sword skills like Starburst Stream. By continuously using Dual Wield(skill) in SAO, he gained the ability to dual wield(using two swords) in fights. So it wasn’t surprising that he used two swords here.

Now the next question would be why didn’t Kirito dual wield in the first place and didn’t buy a second sword with all that dough. My answer would be that Kirito is a one hand sword user first before a dual wielder. He hid his ability back in SAO and he must have carried that notion to hide it in ALO as well. And since he’s used to using only one sword back then, he only purchased one sword now. Besides, he isn’t playing ALO just to boast his skills but on a rescue mission.

Oh and talk about animation priorities here. The fight were a bit clunky at times(but still great)with the art and animation but that part where Kirito stoleborrowed Leafa’s sword was surprisingly well-animated. And them closeups at Sakuya and Alicia…

Side quest over, more girls on his harem(not really), Asuna’s escape. All still good for me and still enjoying watching this. So yeah.

i disegree, there’s no game system for that, it’s not recognised, it’s thecnically possible to everyone i think, he’s just the first to try dual weilding problably dosen’t have any ability’s like you mentioned, it’s just pure brutality, think about it!There’s sword/shield mode for use, what’s to stop someone from getting another sword…

he’s still a cheater, if i remember it was YUI that helped him keep the same status from SAO, he did kill high level players with on atk…
and
I don’t think many people can eat other players with a illusion magic even if it’s his race’s especialization

At this point I have no idea where you are getting your info from. Yui did not do anything. It was a glitch or as was explained the first time he entered ALO that it was based on SAO and that is why his stats stayed. Yui would not have existed if it had not been for that because she was an item in his SAO inventory…so yeah I don’t see where you got so confused. It was all a coincidence that happened in his favor.

The Illusion magic however is a strange case. I have no idea what happened there.

Just watch the episodes. Everything is legit. ALO based on old SAO it was explained as soon as he got there. Since you do not know why Yui was an item I suppose you have to watch the episodes over again. Watch the episodes with Yui everything is explained on why that happened.

lol Phantom Bullet Arc is good but only once the fighting finally starts otherwise too much background info thrown in your face. Problem with that arc (if it makes it to the anime) will be with starting off with condensing all that.

If you know that much then you know the LN isn’t finished yet(10 volumes out with vol11 coming out next month) and that vol4 is a perfect place to end it.
This isn’t WSJ which comes out weekly, it’s a light novel which comes out 3-4 times a year. They’ll burn out the source material if they continue.
So yeah.

If you know that much then you know the LN isn’t finished yet(10 volumes out with vol11 coming out next month) and that vol4 is a perfect place to end it.
This isn’t WSJ which comes out weekly, it’s a light novel which comes out 3-4 times a year. They’ll burn out the source material if they continue.

And for the record, there are only 4 arcs overall. Arc1 is Aincrad, Arc2 is Fairy Dance/ALO and two more, the last of which is the longest.

Kirito was never unable to do duel-wielding, it just wasn’t listed on his skill list. Plus, ALFheim isn’t much different from SAO, and since he played it for two years and beat the game, he’s more experienced then most of the other ALO players. And he’s stinkin’ BEAUTIFUL, so of course he’d have an enormous harem of girls (me being the leader) who toss themselves at his feet.

All of you who are saying that Kirito is cheating, he is not. Yui told him that his SAO data was transferred to ALO and that’s all. That means his strength is the same as SAO. He kept the knowledge of duel-wielding and use it to his advantage. As of the crash landing thing, it was due to the speed he was accelerating at and his lack of landing skills, as pointed out when he crashes into the ground two times and a giant tower in Sylvian. You should all give him more credit. He’s talented because of determination and experience. Yui is not helping him; she is only accompanying him. And as of the whole illusionary magic, the illusion was changing him to a knew species, but the skill allows the caster to actually become that species. All you haters, chill and enjoy the series, because it really is incredible